Sheffield United: Sensible strategy is the key for success at bramall lane

Chris Wilder manager of Sheffield Utd greets Mark Duffy of Sheffield Utd as he substitutes him during the English League One match at Bramall Lane Stadium, Sheffield. Picture date: December 10th, 2016. Pic Simon Bellis/Sportimage

But, as United prepare to play their 22nd match of the League One season at Coventry City on Thursday, the 49-year-old revealed why he has also invested time and energy in ensuring every department, including coaching staff and directors, are “on the same page.”

“I don’t want to be having fights I don’t need to have,” Wilder said. “So it’s important we set out how it’s going to be. I don’t want people to be robots, players, staff and everybody. I want it to be built on togetherness, sprinkled in with the individuals we’ve got on and off the pitch. We’re just getting our heads down and getting on with the job.”

Events at City, whose season has been overshadowed by the on-going dispute between owners SISU and the team’s support, illustrate the dangers of working at a fractured club. Wilder, whose side are third in the table following last weekend’s 4-0 victory over Swindon Town, has held a series of meetings with co-owner Kevin McCabe and chief executive Stephen Bettis to draft United’s recruitment plans ahead of next month’s transfer window. Talks with Wolverhampton Wanderers about Ethan Ebanks-Landell’s future are also on-going although, if the centre-half is recalled to Molineux, then Millwall’s Byron Webster has been identified as a possible replacement.

“The owners want to get out of this division as much as the supporters,” Wilder said. “But nothing is a given. Football just doesn’t work that way, it never has.